Tyson Fury, whose stunning upset of Wladimir Klitschko on Nov. 28 breathed energy into a lifeless division, has been named THE RING Fighter of the Year for 2015.

Klitschko hadn’t lost a fight since 2004 and was seeking the 19th successful defense of his world title, which would’ve equaled the run of Larry Holmes. Fury not only ended the streak but did it a way few could’ve foreseen: The 6-foot-9 behemoth outboxed his smaller opponent to win the RING, IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles in Dusseldorf, Germany.

And it wasn’t close, as Fury shut down the former titleholder for much of the fight. The judges scored it 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111 even though Fury lost a point for rabbit punching. That means he won eight of 12 rounds on two cards and nine on the third.

Fury is the first universally recognized heavyweight champion from the United Kingdom since Lennox Lewis and only the third of all time.

With his victory, Fury also turned boxing’s traditional glamour division upside down. The heavyweights had become largely an afterthought because of the Klitschko brothers’ dominance. Now rising big men like Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Luis Ortiz – combined with Fury and a beatable Klitschko – have made the division interesting again.

Fury stopped Christian Hammer in eight rounds on Feb. 28 in London in his only other fight in 2015.

The other finalists for the award were Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Roman Gonzalez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. They all accomplished big things in 2015, but none shook up the sport like Fury did.

In other categories, the winners were:

FIGHT OF THE YEAR

Francisco Vargas KO 9 Takashi Miura

KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR

Canelo Alvarez KO 3 James Kirkland

ROUND OF THE YEAR

Amir Imam vs. Fidel Maldonado Jr., Round 3

UPSET OF THE YEAR

Tyson Fury UD 12 Wladimir Klitschko

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

Badou Jack

TRAINER OF THE YEAR

Joe Gallagher

PROSPECT OF THE YEAR

Takuma Inoue

EVENT OF THE YEAR

Floyd Mayweather Jr. UD 12 Manny Pacquiao

MOST INSPIRATIONAL

Anthony Crolla

The 87th Annual RING Awards issue, April 2016, will be on newsstands in mid-February. The digital edition of the magazine will be available next week.

Gallagher boasted of 28 out of 30 wins this year you look at who his stable as fought and beat we are not talking of many household names but its still a solid achievement all the same. Gallagher believes he should enjoy the limelight of his fighters success but history shows he isn't the most loyal of fellows and would gladly drop a fighter if he felt was on the way out to take up a young one with potential. The Murray brothers both hate him John in particular they gave him a foot up the ladder and he didn't repay him.

Gallagher boasted of 28 out of 30 wins this year you look at who his stable as fought and beat we are not talking of many household names but its still a solid achievement all the same. Gallagher believes he should enjoy the limelight of his fighters success but history shows he isn't the most loyal of fellows and would gladly drop a fighter if he felt was on the way out to take up a young one with potential. The Murray brothers both hate him John in particular they gave him a foot up the ladder and he didn't repay him.

I remember a few year back when he went on this run of having had every one of his fighters win so many times in a row. But it was the same then , they'd not lost but had hardly beat a known name between them.

Was Murray with Joe when he lost to Mitchell? I know he was for the Rios fight which is kind of strength to my argument.

I remember a few year back when he went on this run of having had every one of his fighters win so many times in a row. But it was the same then , they'd not lost but had hardly beat a known name between them.

Was Murray with Joe when he lost to Mitchell? I know he was for the Rios fight which is kind of strength to my argument.

I can't remember only thing I know is Gallagher is horrible to listen to on TV. Tony Sims as done a good job with all the talent Matchroom have gave him and he seems far more down to earth and humble. Have Gallagher and Sims actually trained fighters against each other under the Matchroom umbrella.

I remember a few year back when he went on this run of having had every one of his fighters win so many times in a row. But it was the same then , they'd not lost but had hardly beat a known name between them.

Was Murray with Joe when he lost to Mitchell? I know he was for the Rios fight which is kind of strength to my argument.

Had not lost but had hardly beat a know name....hmmm sounds like someone else we know hahaha